Baked Things

Recently it was brought to my attention that many people don't know that I offer fresh baked goodies at The Good Leaf, so today I'm blogging about baking.

Since I've been in the tea business, I discovered that I love baking. I always considered myself much more of a cook than a baker given my intuitive style and defiant streak which I figured did not work well with baker's formulas. Early attempts at baking were .... bad. But what started with a small batch of scones I baked up for my weekend stints At the Warehouse, has become pretty much an obsession. I have grown to love the science of baking and more than that, the fragrance of baking. Now, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how to bake rosewater madeleines, chipotle brownies, thumbprint scones, or how to improve on a basic yellow cupcake recipe.

Baking for the teahouse has been a challenge given time, space and traffic; but it's been a lot of fun. I bake everything myself from my home kitchen or in the shop, and up until this point, I've been feeding the obsession; baking what I researched on the web or dreamed about the previous night or what would strike my fancy in the morning.

So I figure I'll tell you about some of the things I've been baking lately. During the week, I mostly have cookies available, with an expanded selection on the weekends. Because I don't have access to a full service or large scale baker's kitchen, I bake in small batches, but I am able to take special orders given a couple of days notice.

Home Baked Stuff you might find at The Good Leaf Gourmet Tea Company

• Tea Infused Butter Cookies: Earl Grey, Green Tea, Persian Scented (fyi: this is not a cookie that smells like a Persian; it's a pistachio, cardamom, rosewater cookie - I'm taking a little break from this one until the pistachio problem is solved)
• Big Cookies: Chinese Style Almond, Traditional Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and my favorite - Sweet and Salty Pretzel/Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Cupcakes: Red Velvet, Green Tea, Lemon
• Muffins: Sweet or Savory
• Teacakes: Lavender scented, Orange, Chai Spiced
• Madeleines: Traditonal genoise a la Proust or sometimes non-traditional a la Michelle
• Brownies
• Scones: Ranging from blueberry to cranberry walnut to peanut butter and jelly

If I can figure out how to twitter or tweet or whatever it is that tells people what you are doing every second of the day in real time, maybe I'll start telling you what I baked each day. If someone wants to tell me how to do that, that would be awesome.